I've been a lot of different corners of the body of Christ, and I have found so many people who are uncomfortable with the two things I'm dealing with today, and so are some of you.

When you're perplexed, when you don't get it, and the other thing they are dealing with is sadness and grief.

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair.

That's 1 Corinthians 4-8, and this is destined for victory, where we feature the preaching

ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. You know, if you live long enough, you'll face some gut-wrenching

trials, seasons of life when you are hard-pressed, grief-stricken, confused.

How can you persevere through the pain and how can you keep it together when your world seems

to be falling apart? Answers come your way next on today's Destin for Victory. Online you'll find

us at Pastor Paul.net, where you can listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including

the one you'll hear next. That's Pastor Paul.net, where you can listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including the one you'll hear next.

That's pastor paul.net.

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts at Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcast.

Now here's today's Destin for Victory Message, when you're perplexed.

I often put a timestamp on messages in order to give context to people who will listen

days, weeks, months, years later, not knowing the context in which the message was brought.

So I'm bringing this message in September of 2021.

Along with many members of our church, my heart is broken today because just a few days ago,

a beloved member of our church, a young woman in her early 40s, died from complications of COVID-19.

She was part of our praise team, as well as a member of our church's gospel ensemble voices of destiny.

Just earlier in this service, we watched a video of her leading voices in a wonderful song,

and many of our hearts are broken.

I had the privilege of being her pastor not only here at destiny,

...